Basketball practice device



g- 1962 s. F. BACHAND ETAL 3,050,305

BASKETBALL PRACTICE DEVICE Filed July 2, 1959 5E5H CHAN p 3 WM, TROLSON United States Patent 3,050,305 BASKETBALL PRACTHJE DEVICE Stephen F. Bachand, 1314 Cummings Ave., and Walter J. Trolson, 911 Hughitt Ave, both of Superior, Wis. Filed July 2, 1959, Ser. No. 824,710 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-15) This invention relates to a device primarily'adapted for use by basketball players to practice jumping, grasping and retrieving a basketball from an overhead position beyond the normal reach of the user.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device which may be advantageously used in physical education classes to develop jumping ability, improve muscular co-ordination and in general to better condition users of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a jump practicing device which canbe adjusted for use by individuals of different heights.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing the basketball or jump practicing device in an operative position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in vertical section, of a part of the device.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the basketball or jump practicing device in its entirety is designated generally 6 and includes a rigid elongated supporting member or bar 7 which is adapted to be supported in an overhead position and in substantially a horizontal plane, as for example, by resting upon a pair of rigid supporting arms 8 which are fixed to and extend outwardly from a wall W and which are utilized for supporting a basketball backboard. U-shape bolts 9 engage around the undersides of the arms 8 and extend upwardly through openings 10 in the supporting member 7 and have nuts 11 threaded on the protruding upper ends thereof and bearing against the upper side of the support 7 for clamping the support immovably to the arms 8. However, it will be understood that the support 7 may be supported in any other suitable manner.

A frame, designated generally 12, includes an elongated fiat base 13 which is disposed on the upper side of the support 7 and secured thereto by fastenings 14. The frame 12 includes upright side walls 15 and 16 which extend upwardly from the side edges of the base 13 and which are provided adjacent their upper ends with aligned openings 17. As best illustrated in FIGURE 4, the wall 16 has flange elements 18 fixed to and projecting outwardly therefrom on opposite sides of the openings 17 thereof, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent.

A hollow shaft 19 extends through and is journaled in the openings 17 and is provided with an externally flanged head 20 at one end thereof which bears against the outer side of the wall 15. Said end of the hollow shaft 19 is provided with a restricted bore portion 21 of noncircular cross section. The hollow shaft 19 has a slot 22 opening outwardly of the other end thereof and extending inwardly to adjacent the bore portion 21. Said shaft 19, near its last mentioned end, is provided with diametrically aligned openings 23, both of which are circumferentially spaced from the slot 22, as best seen in FIGURE 4.

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A hollow reel 24 includes side walls 25 and 26 which are provided with corresponding centrally flanged openings or hubs 27 which are journaled on the shaft 19, between the walls 15 and 16. The wall 25 has a cylindrical wall 23 projecting laterally from the periphery thereof and an edge portion of which fits detachably in an annular inturned flange 29 of the wall 26. The cylindrical wall 28 has transversely spaced annular outwardly projecting flanges 30.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, the cylindrical reel wall 28 is provided with a keyhole shaped opening 31 located between portions of the flanges 30. A hook member 32 is fixed to the inner side of the cylindrical wall 28 and is spaced circumferentially from the opening 31 in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 4, and opens toward said opening 31.

An inner end 33 of a spiral spring 34 projects inwardly through the slot 22 and is anchored to the shaft 19. The spiral spring 34 is wound counterclockwise about the shaft 19 from its inner end 33 and within the reel 24 and has a turned back hook shaped outer end 35 which interengages with and is anchored to the reel hook 32, as best seen in FIGURE 4.

A strong nonelastic flexible element such as a wire cable or cord 36 has an enlargement or stop 37 secured to one end thereof and which is passed inwardly through the enlarged portion of the opening 31 and engages under the restricted end of said opening, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, for anchoring said wire cable or cord end to the reel 24. The wire cable or cord 36 is wound a number of times counterclockwise around the cylindrical reel wall 28, between the flanges 30, from its anchored end, and has a portion extending downwardly from the reel 24 through aligned openings 38 in the base 13 and support 7, as seen in FIGURE 2. and which wire cable or cord end terminates in an attaching ring 39 which is disposed below the support 7. A yielda'ble abutment member 49 is secured to said last mentioned end portion of the wire cable or cord 36, above and adjacent the attaching ring 39 and normally abuts the undeside of the support 7 and is substantially larger than the openings 38.

A basketball or the like 41 has an anchoring member 42 secured to a part of the periphery thereof. An attaching ring 43 is secured to and projects outwardly from the anchoring member 42. A strong nonextensible cord 44 has swivel snap hooks 45 connected to both ends thereof. One of the snap hooks 45 engages the ring 39 and the other snap hook engages the ring 43 for suspending the ball 41 from the wire cable cord 36.

When the shaft 19 extends through the openings 17 and the head 20 is disposed against the outer side of the wall 15, the shaft openings 23 are disposed on the outer side of the wall 16 and are spaced outwardly therefrom a distance less than the spacing of the outer edges of the flange elements 18 from said wall 16. A suitable turning tool, not shown, is engaged non-rotatably in the noncircular bore oprtion 21 for rotating the shaft 19 in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 4. After a slight winding of the spring 34, this will cause the wire cable or cord 36 to be wound on the reel 24 until the abutment 40 is brought into engagement with the underside of the support 7, to prevent further winding of the wire cable or cord 36 on the reel. Thereafter, the shaft 19 will be turned relative to the reel 24 for winding the spring 34 to a desired tension, after which a cotter pin 46 is inserted through the openings 23. The ends of the cotter pin 46, which protrude from the periphery of the shaft 19, bear against opposite ends of the two flange elements 18 to prevent rotation of the shaft 19 in the openings 17 to maintain the desired tension on the spring 34.

The basketball 41 is thus supported in an elevated position out of reach of the user and so that the basketball can only be grasped by jumping. The practice device is utilized *by the user jumping and attempting to grasp and pull the ball 41 downwardly to thus acquire proficiency in jumping and retrieving the ball. When the ball 41 is released after having thus been retrieved, the spring 34 will rewind the wire cable or cord 36 on the reel 24 to cause the ball 41 to resume its elevated position of FIG- URE 1 and so that the operation can be repeated. The length of the cord 44 can be varied or cords 44 of different lengths are interchangeably used to adapt the practice device 6 to users of different heights and having diiferent jumping ability.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

We claim as our invention:

A basketball jump practicing apparatus comprising a stationary support, a frame fixed to and disposed above said support and having a pair of upstanding walls disposed in spaced apart relation to one another, said walls having aligned openings, a 'hollow shaft extending through said openings and journalled in the walls, said shaft having an elongated slot opening outwardly of one end thereof,

a hollow reel journaled on and supported solely by said shaft, a spiral spring disposed within the reel and having an outer end anchored to the reel and an inturned inner end engaging in said slot and anchored to the shaft, a cord Wound on the reel and having one end anchored thereto, said cord having a depending opposite end, a basketball attached to said depending cord end and supported thereby in an elevated position beneath said support, the other end of the hollow shaft having a noncircular tool receiving socket for turning the shaft in one direction to wind and tension the spring, one of said walls being provided with a stop, a pin detachably mounted in and projecting laterally from the first mentioned shaft end and engaging said stop to prevent rotation of the shaft to maintain tension on the spring, and a yieldable abutment member secured to the cord adjacent the basketball and disposed to engage an underside of the support to limit the extent that the cord can be rewound on the reel.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

